10 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
1938 constituted about 64 percent. This change in the make-up of 
the catch is due primarily to the great increase in recent years in the 
landings of redfish (rosefish), whiting, cod, pollock, and grey sole. 
To a lesser extent it is due to the decline in the catch of haddock. 
Another trend which was continued in 1938 was the increased con- 
centration of fishing on scrod haddock, when these sizes were avail- 
able. During the first 11 months of 1938, 45 percent of the haddock 
from Georges Bank were scrod, compared to 35, 38, and 36 percent 
during the 3 previous years and even lower percentages prior to 
that time. This appears to be definitely prejudicial to the future, 
inasmuch as haddock of this size still are growing rapidly and would 
be of considerably more value to the fishermen because of increased 
weight and increased value per pound, if allowed at least 1 more 
year’s growth. 
As a result of rather erratic exploitation and of natural factors 
which were neither understood nor even known, the catches of had- 
deck have varied tremendously in different years, indicating a high 
degree of fluctuation in abundance or availability. Following 1927 
the average catch per boat declined to an alarming extent (although 
the total catch was maintained until 1929-30 as the result of a great 
increase in fishing effort), and since then, has remained at a relatively 
low level. The fishery on the Nova Scotian banks has followed about 
the same course and the effects have been much the same. 
The principal problems of the haddock investigation, from its 
inception, have been to determine the extent and causes of these great 
fluctuations, and to determine what practical modifications in fishing 
methods or procedure could be adopted in order to partially or en- 
tirely eliminate the periods of low productivity. The final problem 
was to develop a plan for prosecuting the fishery which, if adopted by 
the industry, would permit the maximum continuous catch from the 
area. 
Analysis of extensive data collected during the course of the investi- 
gation has explained many of the factors controlling the condition 
of the fishery. During the period under most intensive study, the 
total catch increased from about 60,000,000 pounds in 1921 to nearly 
250,000,000 in 1929, then dropped to about 140,000,000 in 1982 with 
some relatively limited increases and decreases since then. On the 
average, about 72 percent of this catch came from the Georges Bank 
area. In this region, the abundance of haddock, as shown by the 
average daily catch per trawler, had decreased rapidly from a rela- 
tively high level in 1921 to a low point in 1928, and had then risen pre- 
cipitously to a peak in 1927. Since that year there has been a decline 
to an extremely low level in 1931, with little recovery since. The 
changes in this apparent level of abundance, particularly the low 
levels maintained since 1932, were due partly to the changing inten- 
sity of the fishery; but the relative success or failure of year-class 
survival appears to have been a very important factor. Years of 
good and poor survival appear to occur in cycles, the causes of which 
are only beginning to be understood. 
Independence of the haddock population in the Georges area from 
that an the Nova Scotian banks has been apparent. During the first 
two or three years of life, the growth rate for Georges fish is much 
greater than for haddock from the banks to the east; while in later 
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